Okay everyone, here it is. I hope you enjoy it
The girls decided to make their first stop the library in Oakland. Willow was interested in checking the archives for newspapers that might shed more light on the circumstances surrounding her uncle’s death. She had a difficult time finding the articles online. She figured the San Francisco Public Library had not had an opportunity to log all of their archives to computer yet. They entered the building and found a map on the wall that stated the basement would be archival newspapers, microfiche, periodicals, etc. They took a short, dark stairwell down into the bowels of the library. It even smelled like the bowels of the library--dusty, moldy and carried an odor not much different than Spike’s crypt. A long corridor held several doors on each side. There were rooms filled with filing cabinets and dusty, old books. There did not appear to be anyone else down here. When they reached the end of the corridor, they saw an open set of double doors. A desk was set just off to the left with a young woman, nose buried in a book of her own, intent on concentrating on the story at hand.
“He, hum.” Buffy tried very quietly to interrupt the young woman’s reading.
Two startled, but entrancing, blue eyes looked up from the Tolstoy book they had been perusing. “Uh, yeah. I -I -I mean yes? Can I help you?” The young woman was trying to shake the ideas of an adulterous affair she has just read about in Anna Karenina. The turbulent story of people who are not in love, but feel as though they are trapped in a marriage imposed by societal expectations, spoke volumes to her. She recalls the unhappiness her mother suffered through as she tried to create a happy home for her two children in the small town of Sandpoint, ID. Women were expected to get married, have children and then care for her husband and the household. This was one of the reasons Tara escaped the small town life and chose to attend college in California.
Willow was caught in a trance, staring at the most beautiful woman she believed she had ever seen. She was unable to articulate what she wanted, she seemed to forget where she was and why she was there.
“Excuse me, yes. We are looking for newspapers dating back around 20 or so years ago. Local papers. Can you point us in the right direction?” Buffy interjected, while giving Willow a nudge with her elbow.
“Oh, uh, s-s-sure. I can, uh, sh-show you. Th-th there down this w-w way.” The young woman put her book down on the desk and slid off of the stool. Willow continued to watch every move she made, openly ogling at her.
Buffy grabbed Willow by the elbow and pulled her close. “Willow? What’s wrong with you? You’re acting really weird.” Buffy’s suspicious nature took over. “Are you getting some weird witchy vibes? My Spidey Sense isn’t screaming vamp or Hellmouth creepy guy.” Buffy began reaching for the extra stake she always carried in her inside jacket pocket.
Willow realized what Buffy was thinking. “No! No, that’s not it. I . . . it’s just, I’ve never seen such a beautiful woman before. She’s captivating. No, she’s gorgeous.” Willow whispered to Buffy as they began to follow the young woman to the book shelves that housed the old newspapers.
“Well that’s a relief. I really wanted a whole summer off from slaying. I didn’t really want to start our adventure out with a fight. At least not right away. And Wills, put your tongue back in your mouth,” Buffy shook her head and smiled at her best friend. She was glad to see Willow had a romantic interest in someone after Amy. “Starting a tumultuous, long distance love affair just wouldn’t be in the cards right now. I should know, with the Angel thing and all. You can’t just teleport back and forth from Sunnydale. Can you?”
Willow had two disastrous love affairs, one right after the other. Oz was her first love, so she thought until she met Amy. Buffy was convinced Amy was more of an infatuation, someone to test out the girl on girl factor with, but Willow knew she was gay the moment Amy kissed her. That was in the past, and this beautiful woman they were following had something Amy didn’t have. Willow could feel the positive energy coming off of her. Yes, she appeared to be shy, but that did not seem to matter to Willow.
“Y-y- you can tr-try down th-this aisle. All of the n-n-newspapers are on microfiche. Just b-b-bring me th-the ones you t-take out when you l-l-leave.” The young woman pointed to a shelf full of microfiche all dated by year and labeled with the newspapers name. The section was dedicated to the local newspapers of the San Francisco area. In between the bookshelves sat two microfiche machines sitting side by side on one long table.
“Thanks, uh, Tara,” Buffy said, reading the young woman’s name tag. “We’ll let you know if we need anymore help. Right Willow?”
“Uh, yeah. Right. Anymore help. We’ll let you know. Thanks.” Willow had never had such a problem with words before. She was looking right into two infinite pools of blue, and the intensity of her look said every word Willow wanted to say to Tara.
Tara held the look a couple of more seconds, and then put her head down and headed back toward her desk. She wasn’t sure what just happened. The red headed woman, Willow, was looking at her in such a loving and caring way. She was taken back by the depth of those green eyes. There was just something about the energy between them that she couldn’t explain.
Willow snapped out of her trance as Tara disappeared down the long row of bookshelves and file cabinets. "I think we should start with this box and just scroll until we see my aunt or uncle's name. Remember were looking for Goldman, not Rosenberg," Willow reminded Buffy as she handed her a box of microfiche.
Willow and Buffy spent the next couple of hours scrolling through endless articles about sports, advertisements, politics of the time. Everything but the accident. "I don't know about you, but I'm starting to see double. My eyes feel like they're going to fall out of my head," Willow commented.
"This is the most research I have ever done, even for reports I had to do in high school. This just isn't my thing. I can't do anymore," Buffy put her head down on the table and closed her eyes.
Willow rubbed her eyes and tried to clear her mind. The search was becoming very frustrating. As she placed the microfiche she already looked at back into the box she began to wonder if this trip was such a good idea. Sometimes things should be left well enough alone. That's what her mother had told her for the umpteenth time when Willow tried to find out more information about her family. She was going to drop these boxes off at the desk and suggest that lunch would be a good diversion when soft footsteps could be heard heading in their direction.
Tara came around the corner, eyes to the ground, her long silky hair had fallen into her face hiding the smile she held for this red headed stranger. "I, uh, I w-w-was wondering if you n-needed any help. You two have b-b-been back here for a w-w-while." She noticed the bleary look of Willow's eyes, and the slumped over figure of Buffy next to her.
"I'm not sure. I think I'm done. I couldn't find what I was looking for." Willow wished she could use this opportunity to spend more time with Tara. Anything to be near her, listen to her voice. She smelled like lavender and vanilla and her voice just sang every word that fell from her lips. Willow was becoming infatuated with this woman.
"Wh-why don't you t-t-tell me what you are l-looking for? I will tr-try to f-find the story." Tara was never this brave when it came to helping people. She usually waited for someone to ask her, but she felt the need to assist Willow with her search.
Willow thought for a minute and noticed Buffy was apparently taking a nap. She could hear her breathing change and decided she would take advantage of this time alone with Tara. "Okay, it looks like my friend Buffy has better things to do anyway." She nodded her head toward the slumbering slayer.
"L-l-let's start w-with the y-year." Tara suggested.
"Okay, I'm looking for local stories from the fall of 1972 about an accident involving the murder of a young man by his sister." Willow proceeded to give Tara the details she needed to find the appropriate microfiche box.
"OH! I remember that trial." Tara said in surprise. "I-I think that woman w-was put into an asylum. Th-they said she thought she w-w-was a witch." Tara grabbed two boxes and handed them to Willow. "You should be able t-to find the tr-trial in here, and the s-s-story about the boy's m-murder i-in here."
"Thanks, I'll, uh, see what I can find," great thought Willow when she finds out I'm related to these people, she'll go running for the foothills of the Sierra's.
"N-n-no problem. If you need anything e-else. Just let m-me know." Tara smiled to herself as she walked back to her desk. She was glad she could be the hero and find the information. Many people who were interested in the occult studied the accident and murder trial of Rebecca Goldman. Being a witch herself, Tara was very familiar with the case and what truly transpired between Rebecca and her brother. She heard this story from her mother many times as a warning to stay away from dark magic.
Willow began scrolling through the new box of microfiche trying to find any information about her aunt. She was more interested in how the trial went. She wanted to know how the courts found her aunt guilty by reason of insanity. She would print as much information as she could and do a more thorough reading of the articles later in the hotel room. Willow stopped on a front page article with a large, color picture of a woman with blonde, stringy hair and wild green eyes. The headline read, "Woman claims magical powers killed for her". The haunting face of the woman in the picture Willow sent a shiver up her spine. Her Aunt Rebecca appeared to be staring right at her from the picture, warning her of what she might uncover. Willow had to tear her eyes away and hit the print key. "What am I getting myself into?" She thought aloud. "Whatever it is, I am definitely going to need your help Buffy," Willow whispered toward the sleeping figure of Buffy.
Edited by: damron39 at: 12/29/04 11:12 am
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I hate to give it away, so let's just say . . . she's making her grand entrance very soon. I hope you like the next installment. 
More soon, please.
